Detroit's 'other' pro sports teams

Recently, when writing about Detroit being named a finalist for a Major League Soccer expansion team, I mentioned in print and on Twitter that it would be the city's first team in an established major U.S. pro league since the Pistons relocated from Fort Wayne in 1957.

Some readers disputed that, and suggested that the city has been home to major league teams since then.

Examples included the Michigan Panthers, and the Detroit Express, Shock and Drive.

I don't consider those to be have been major league teams in leagues on par with the National Football League, Major League, National Basketball Association, and National Hockey League. That's not to say they didn't have great players and teams, solid audiences, etc., but they never were part of leagues that established widespread stability or reach.

At best, they were second-tier leagues.

Here's a quick look at Detroit's other significant pro sports teams of the past:

Detroit Express

The Express played in the North American Soccer League, an organization that lasted from 1968-84. They played their short life (1978-80) at the 80,000-seat Pontiac Silverdome, with average attendance peaking at 14,058 in 1979. It plummeted after that, and the team relocated to Washington, D.C., in 1981.

The NASL's peak year was 1980 when its 24 teams averaged a combined 14,440 fans per game. Overspending, mismanagement, over-expansion, declining audience and a national recession eventually killed the league. Until then, the NASL was the most successful U.S. pro soccer league until the MLS began in 1996.

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Courtesy Ken Hoffman

Michigan Panthers

Following the Express at the Silverdome were the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League. The USFL, which lasted from 1983 to 1985, was the last serious challenge to the NFL, using deficit spending to lure top college talent and raiding the established league for stars.

The Panthers averaged 22,250 per game at the 80,638-seat Pontiac Silverdome that inaugural 1983 season, sixth-best of 12 USFL teams. Michigan saw the largest crowd of any USFL game in 1983 with 60,237 who came for the 37-21 playoff victory over Oakland at the Silverdome on July 10, 1983. The Panthers won the league's inaugural championship game that season.

The Panthers' average leapt to 32,457 per game in 1984, sixth in the expanded 18-team league.

With millions of dollars in losses piling up, team owner Al Taubman merged the Panthers with the Oakland Invaders for the 1985 season, and they played to an average of just 17,509 per game at the 56,000-seat Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

The Arena Football League's Detroit Drive averaged 14,438 fans over the 70 games it played from 1988 to 1993 at Joe Louis Arena.

The team, owned by Mike Ilitch, played in six Arena Bowl championship games, winning four of them. Ilitch sold the team in 1993 only after buying the Detroit Tigers the previous year for $85 million. Ilitch didn't want the Drive siphoning fans away from the Tigers; the AFL and baseball share the same spring-summer schedule.

Another AFL team, the Detroit Fury, was co-owned by Palace/Pistons owner Bill Davidson and by William Clay Ford Jr., son of Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr. The team was around from 2001 to 2004 before being scrapped. It averaged 8,152 fans per game over four largely mediocre seasons on the field.

The Arena League has gone through various iterations, financial problems and franchise turnover since its 1988 launch, emerging from bankruptcy in its modest form today.

Detroit Shock

The Women's National Basketball Association team was an expansion franchise in 1998, and won WNBA championships in 2003, 2006 and 2008. The Shock averaged 10,229 per game in its inaugural season at the Palace. Karen Davidson, widow of Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports and Entertainment owner Bill Davidson, sold the team in 2009 and it relocated to become the Tulsa Shock and then the Dallas Wings.

The Shock averaged 8,011 per game its final season at the Palace.

The 12-team WNBA as a whole averaged 7,716 per game last season. It struggles with audience and profitability.

Stories of the week

Bonbon voyage: The top two chefs at Ford Field have left to launch an upscale chocolate business.

Another trade: The Tigers sent veteran Ian Kinsler to the Angels as part of their business strategy shift.

The Cleveland Browns fell to 0-14 on Sunday and are two losses away from joining the Detroit Lions as the NFL's only team to lose every game in a 16-game season. The league moved to its current 16-game schedule in 1978. Here's a look at where Detroit's infamous winless season ranks among the longest losing streaks in NFL history.

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The Cheat Sheet

Not a sports fan? Here are a few things from the world of sports last week that can help you in business small talk during meetings, on the golf course, at the bar, or while networking:

1. What happened: The Lions beat the Bears 20-10 at Ford Field on Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive.

What to say: Detroit needs a lot of help to get an NFC wild card spot, starting with winning their remaining two games (at Cincinnati this coming Sunday, and at home against the Packers in the season finale).

2. What happened: Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, 80, said Sunday he will put the team up for sale after accusations of inappropriate workplace behavior.

What to say: Rapper Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has voiced interest in buying the team, and ex-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Warriors star Steph Curry are apparently interested in being part of the ownership bid for the franchise estimated by Forbes to be worth $2.3 billion.

3. What happened: The house-cleaning Miami Marlins sent baseball's top power hitter, Giancarlo Stanton, to the New York Yankees in a surprise trade over the weekend.

What to say: The Yankees look like they're back as one of MLB's elite teams.

Talk to me, and follow me!

If you have news tips, story suggestions, or anything else you think I should know, you can reach me at (313) 446-1626 or by emailing me at [email protected]. Another way to reach me (and a great way to get more sports business news) is to follow me on Twitter at @Bill_Shea19.